Quote:
Originally Posted by Hasta la vista pelota
Good points, Amazin, but some people might say that basketball had more strategy without the shot clock. And they would probably be right. But things change, and most fans aren't interested in the strategy. They want action.
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Fair enough, but
RandyMyers was arguing that the NL didn't have the advantage in strategy that I (and others) allege it does. So I was rebutting him.
And the "strategy v. action" issue is a false dichotomy. Certainly the NL has been able to increase run production throughout the years via a variety of means, none of which required the use of a Designated Has-Been. Juiced baseballs, juiced players, reduced strike zones, expansion, smaller ballparks, calling more balks, cutting down on beanballs, letting Barry Bonds go up to bat wearing ridiculous body armor and actually letting him hit with his hands
in the f*cking strike zone but if you threw an inside pitch you got a warning and so of course the cheater could cover the whole plate that way…grrr. All of these boosted run production, just as the insane proposals for an "illegal defense" rule would. None required a half-player to sit in the dugout and pop out for random cameos without even pretending to play defense.
From 1973 to 2014, the NL ERA has ranged as high as 4.63 (2000) and as low as 3.45 (1988). And, in each of those 42 seasons, the NL has played a more interesting, fairer, and more complex form of baseball than the DH dullards up in the Bronx (and elsewhere). The AL ERA last season was only 3.81, DH and all. The NL has had more "action" than that in half of the 42 seasons in question. The DH is not the primary determinant of runs scored, not nearly.
It's also not the primary driver of attendance. The NL has led the AL in average attendance for the majority of the DH era, including every single season since the 1994 strike. (This despite the NL having had the only team that had to relocate due to poor attendance during this time.) So while fans may turn out for higher scores in general, of those who turn out, a consistent majority prefer the NL version of the game.